The "Sonar X4 Release + Survey Question Speculation" katamari super thread.

I'd say there was a 50% chance of it coming out in time for Xmas... but that drops to 10% if we don't get an announcement on Nov 1st.
 
I'd put money on it coming out within the next 6 months, however.
 
Given that you are still on 8.5, I'd recommend upgrading. By the time you have recovered from the shock, you might get a nice upgrade price to X4 prior to X5's release.

From one of those threads:-
 

dantarbill
While at AES, Cakewalk's Dan Gonzales told me X4 would be out "by the end of the year".  Depending on what gotchas happen at the tail end of the development and release cycle...that could still be a pretty squishy target...but at least that was his expectation.

I'd be tempted to wait even though I have no idea of when it's coming out. The X-series has just gotten more and more polished with each release and I'm truly excited to find out what the Bakers have in store for X4. I'd say, unless you're having serious problems with 8.5 that are preventing you from making music, then stick it out.

I'll say this: I will feel safe to upgrade to the next version when it comes out, and my speculation is, unless there's some pretty major new features being added late in the process, it's surely got to be close. 
 
As far as subscription models, I personally don't see that being deployed before the next version. And to be honest, I think a subscription model would be great, if it's more like the Netflix model, where you can pause it. If the DAW were able to "check" its activation to enable the Audio Engine, that could be a great way to allow new users to get visually and ergonomically oriented with Sonar without allowing them to actually use the software. Then, activation could be based on a monthly subscription. So, for bands that want to record themselves, but do so only a semi-annual basis, they can rent the activation for two months out of the year, for say, $10-20/mo. the longer your subscription runs, the better your discount (or more subscriptions). I'm basing the latter on the GotoMeeting pricing model. 
 
If the subscriber buys a year's activation, it would run, say $99/yr, $149/2yrs, $199/3yrs. Month-to-month would be, say $19.99/mo. ($479.76 for 24 mos.) You can see that compared to a one-time $399 for Producer, these look attractive. Sure, the long-term users would receive a discount, but you could attract many more occasional users to offset that discount, awarding the long-term users the higher appreciation. 
 
btw, $12.99/mo. for Xn Studio and $9.99/mo. for basic Xn.
 
The software is downloaded and installed, but requires Internet access to validate subscription.

brconflict
I'll say this: I will feel safe to upgrade to the next version when it comes out, and my speculation is, unless there's some pretty major new features being added late in the process, it's surely got to be close. 
 
As far as subscription models, I personally don't see that being deployed before the next version. And to be honest, I think a subscription model would be great, if it's more like the Netflix model, where you can pause it. If the DAW were able to "check" its activation to enable the Audio Engine, that could be a great way to allow new users to get visually and ergonomically oriented with Sonar without allowing them to actually use the software. Then, activation could be based on a monthly subscription. So, for bands that want to record themselves, but do so only a semi-annual basis, they can rent the activation for two months out of the year, for say, $10-20/mo. the longer your subscription runs, the better your discount (or more subscriptions). I'm basing the latter on the GotoMeeting pricing model. 
 
If the subscriber buys a year's activation, it would run, say $99/yr, $149/2yrs, $199/3yrs. Month-to-month would be, say $19.99/mo. ($479.76 for 24 mos.) You can see that compared to a one-time $399 for Producer, these look attractive. Sure, the long-term users would receive a discount, but you could attract many more occasional users to offset that discount, awarding the long-term users the higher appreciation. 
 
btw, $12.99/mo. for Xn Studio and $9.99/mo. for basic Xn.
 
The software is downloaded and installed, but requires Internet access to validate subscription.

brconflict
I'll say this: I will feel safe to upgrade to the next version when it comes out, and my speculation is, unless there's some pretty major new features being added late in the process, it's surely got to be close. 
 
As far as subscription models, I personally don't see that being deployed before the next version. And to be honest, I think a subscription model would be great, if it's more like the Netflix model, where you can pause it. If the DAW were able to "check" its activation to enable the Audio Engine, that could be a great way to allow new users to get visually and ergonomically oriented with Sonar without allowing them to actually use the software. Then, activation could be based on a monthly subscription. So, for bands that want to record themselves, but do so only a semi-annual basis, they can rent the activation for two months out of the year, for say, $10-20/mo. the longer your subscription runs, the better your discount (or more subscriptions). I'm basing the latter on the GotoMeeting pricing model. 
 
If the subscriber buys a year's activation, it would run, say $99/yr, $149/2yrs, $199/3yrs. Month-to-month would be, say $19.99/mo. ($479.76 for 24 mos.) You can see that compared to a one-time $399 for Producer, these look attractive. Sure, the long-term users would receive a discount, but you could attract many more occasional users to offset that discount, awarding the long-term users the higher appreciation. 
 
btw, $12.99/mo. for Xn Studio and $9.99/mo. for basic Xn.
 
The software is downloaded and installed, but requires Internet access to validate subscription.

 Based on that idea,  I won't be using it anymore.  I could care less if Adobe or Avid does it but they are pricey software to begin with.  Cakewalk has always made generous offers for upgrades.  I started on Music Creator, then a great deal to upgrade to Home Studio, then to Home Studio XL, then Sonar 2 and Sonar 2 XL.   They only upgrade I missed was Sonar 6.  
 
 Sonar X3 PE is still a very affordable app for what is included and for what it does.  Live costs as much and maybe more.  You get a lot of proprietary stuff in Live and throw in another $300 for the Live Suite, you are around $800.  Studio One doesn't have all of the toys compared to PE (there's no staff view either).  Reaper sells you an app for cheap so you can buy other VSTs.  (no subscription model and they update like crazy)  Then there's Reason a proprietary app that isn't tailored to genres like Country Music.   There's also Tracktion ($60). FL Studio with lifetime updates.
 
A subscription model would be the death of Sonar.  There would be better economical choices.  Sonar and Netflix in the same line of thinking is nothing but absurdity.   I know Avid Media Composer is a monthly subscription but if Sony ever comes out with Vegas for Mac, there's going to be more financial hurt to Avid.
 

Dead against a subscription model. If I felt happy with a particular version and didn't wish to upgrade to the very latest, I would then be bound to be forever paying for something that i would much rather own outright.  

Kenny:
 
Nice idea on the 30-day demo. Also, until October 31st, you can get 33% off Sonar X3 in the Cakewalk store. Of course, this is probably the first sign that X4 is right around the corner.

Well, this is quite interesting. So, here's another option: $399 for a perpetual license as a choice. That should still be fine along with the subscription options. But here's a thought some of you may not really be considering: If you use Google, Dropbox, Netflix, etc. you're using a subscription-based service. Obviously a few of them offer free services for minimal use, but when you use it for business, you might upgrade to a subscription model so that you don't have to worry as much about your upgrade path and such. And yeah, no more dongles.
 
The trouble (or coolness) of subscription models is this: We'll be there one day. At some point in the future, it stands to be that your PC will be in a cloud, although the DAW industry will trail way behind this trend. But really, we are subscribing to Sonar anyway, perpetual license or not. Once the hardware and OS dictates the older software is no longer supported, you'll upgrade to the next version. And yes, Cakewalk does offer great discounts on upgrades.
 
I used to think perpetual licensing was better, but when you really dig into the way we typically use the software, subscription models aren't always so bad. Not a great thing here for Cakewalk, but say you decide Sonar isn't for you anymore? What if you're so infuriated by something in Sonar that a competing product does better? You can end/pause your subscription with Cakewalk and start/resume your subscription with another company. Then decide, "Nah, Sonar was really better." You can decide that without having to spend hundreds to own both products, or juggling trial versions that no longer work without re-installing your OS. Or say, you receive a session that is not native to Sonar to mix for a month. You can go away and come back. Or subscribe to both. How's that?
 
For businesses looking to save $$, renting software/hardware is far better. For example, I'm moving my company over to Google Apps from Zimbra. No more do we have to upgrade/manage the hardware, or upgrading the software, certificates, licenses, or spam. Those go to Google Apps for Business at $5/mo. per user. AND, Google can update the service/app on the fly for us! Obviously that last part doesn't apply here, but having free upgrades for life in the subscription model would be nice!
 
So, let's add perpetual as an option. No harm done. It's not something the software should really care about. Activating the perpetual license disables the licensing checker, and disables the upgrade path. Solved.

I really doubt it will happen. I can't see the benefits either for the consumer and or Cakewalk..

Yes a rollback feature for patches would be nice and perfectly doable, I suspect the cloud will handle that.

Like I said before, I don't see a subscription model happening before the release of the next version of Sonar, but I will say that I'm quite surprised at how reluctant to change I'm reading here. I'm just as reluctant to change as many, but the reality is, I don't OWN the software. I own a COPY of the software, and at any time, software versions can and will eventually become unsupported in the future.
 
NOTE: Keep in mind, I'm not even hinting or suggesting that Cakewalk start a subscription model. But if they do, as long as it's no more expensive than what I'm paying now, I'd be fine with it. There's some months I go without using Sonar at all.

brconflict
I don't OWN the software. I own a COPY of the software,

Don't want to sound picky however you actually own a license to install the software.
 
Cheers..

http://www.reddit.com/r/W...s_sonar_x4_in_company/

Oh, good find ...wicked!!!!!